Syracuse University football receiver Jeremiah Kobena made the most of his shot Monday

Frank Ordoñez / The Post-StandardSyracuse University football wide receiver Jeremiah Kobena turns to catch a pass during a recent practice while being defended by safety Dontez Ford.

Syracuse, NY -- The Syracuse University football team practiced Monday with five of its wide receivers – senior Alec Lemon, junior Adrian Flemming, sophomores Jarrod West and Kyle Foster and redshirt freshman Keenan Hale – on the shelf. Their absence pushed sophomore Jeremiah Kobena onto the first team during the scrimmage portion of the schedule.

Kobena (6-foot, 182 pounds) responded with several nice grabs in traffic. His performance was an encouraging sign, as he possesses the speed to run past defenders and make big plays, an element that was missing from the offense last season. Kobena had endured a rough camp, failing to catch the ball consistently until Monday’s display, and was buried deep on the depth chart at receiver. It was only one day, but Monday he made the most of his opportunity to add some receiving duties to his job as the team’s primary kickoff returner.

Another wideout who saw more action due to all the absences was junior-college transfer Chris Clark (5-11, 159), a former California high school track star. Clark was slowed by a wrist injury in the early days of camp and seemed destined for the scout team but now will get an opportunity to show he belongs on the field. He looked OK on Monday. The Orange could certainly use him and Kobena to make some noise over the remainder of camp.

“We’ve run well at the receiver position,” coach Doug Marrone said recently. “I think we’ve run faster than we’ve run in the past, but that’s all track this and that. We’ve got to do that on the field. We’ve got to run by people and score touchdowns.”

Getting pushed up to the second-team offense Monday along with Clark were true freshmen Alvin Cornelius III (6-1, 185) and Ben Lewis (6-2, 199). While Lewis has impressed with his ability to catch the ball, Cornelius seems to be the more developed all-around receiver when it comes to catching, blocking and knowing the playbook at this early stage and may have the edge if one of them is needed this season.